Hands Off
The Associated Press (AP) article Turkish student at Tufts University detained, video shows masked people handcuffing her, written by Offenhartz, McCormack, and Casey (2025), reports on the detention of Turkish doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in Somerville, Massachusetts. The piece provides minimal explanation from authorities and features direct quotations and paraphrasing from sources such as Ozturk’s lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai. With visuals of the arrest and protests, the article appears to engage in frame sending, where facts are presented without explicit explanation. However, through word choices like “masked ICE officials” and the emotional tone of images, the article also reflects elements of human interest, legal, and conflict frames. These journalistic decisions influence how readers perceive immigration enforcement, aligning with research on how news framing shapes emotional and political responses (Parrott et al., 2019; Famulari, 2020; Brüggemann, 2014).
Personal Impact
This story impacted me personally for multiple reasons. First, they discussed that Ozurk had a hand in writing for her university paper, this was the main identifier as to why she was picked up by ICE. As a former journalism student who pushed freedom of the press, this broke my heart and immediately connected me with Ozurk at an individual level. The video of the confrontation struck fear in me by feeling out of control and helpless. However, the photo of the protest in support of Ozurk has filled me with inspiration. It urged me to investigate “Hands Off” protests in my area to provide support. My political identity is more left leaning, so I feel it was easier for me to connect with this article in a positive way.
Visual and Textual Framing
Visual and textual framing in news media around immigrants and refugees can affect emotions and attitudes of the consumer (Parrott, Hoewe, Fan, & Huffman, 2019). Parrott et al. (2019) found that, “political frames tend to increase negative emotions and negative attitudes, while human interest frames increase positive emotions and positive attitudes” (p. 677). While this study focuses on framing in a broader sense, it suggests that how the AP article presents detention by using language such as “masked ICE officials” and “without explanation” (Offenhartz et al., 2025) accompanied by visuals could influence the emotional response and attitudes towards immigration enforcement or the individuals involved (Parrott et al., 2019).
Journalistic Framing
The detention of a student by ICE has clear political ramifications, touching upon issues of immigration policy, due process, academic freedom, and potentially the relationship between the federal government and educational institutions. This is not the first time detention centers have been framed in news media. In 2020, researcher Umberto Famulari conducted a content analysis of news stories, along with visuals, around the framing of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy. The policy was initially implemented in April 2018, and the enactment came to an end in June of that year (Famulari, 2020). Famulari (2020) analyzed this story across multiple online news outlets that ranged in their political orientations. The analysis highlights how different frames were employed by these agencies, including attribution of responsibility, human interest, morality, economy, legality and security (Famulari, 2020).
News context is related to journalistic frames as the environment in which journalists operate significantly influences how they shape news frames (Brüggemann, 2014). Research has identified a continuum between frame setting and frame sending within journalistic framing (Brüggemann, 2014). Setting involves journalists framing in line with their own interpretations, while sending simply involves relaying frames from other players (Brüggemann, 2014). Something that surprised me was that journalist’s posts that exhibited higher neutrality were more likely to be engaging in frame sending. This is because multiple frames are being presented without strong indicators from the journalist to the reader about which are more sufficient (Brüggemann, 2014).
Famulari (2020) reviewed a decent selection of online news sources within his research; however, AP was not one of them. Considering Famulari’s (2020) findings and survey results from AllSides (2023), it can be assumed that AP is viewed as one of the more neutral and fact-based news organizations today. This puts AP in the position of possible neutrality that produces frame sending journalism, however the selection of facts, quotes, visuals, and certain emphases can possibly swing this article into frame setting (Famulari, 2020). The concept that journalists operate within a frame repository of culturally and cognitively available frames, which can influence reporting, was also discussed in Famulari’s (2020) work.
Source Attribution
The article I chose from AP indicates itself and specifically credited journalists as its source. There are no text citations or footnotes, rather they directly attribute sourcing into the text. An example of this is, “Khanbabai said in a petition filed in Boston federal court,” (Offenhartz et al., 2025). The article combines direct quotes like this and paraphrasing to provide perspectives from individuals and institutions. Feeding into the previously assumed frame sending category.
In addition to text, AP provided a few visuals directly credited by them. This includes security footage of Ozturk being handcuffed by disguised ICE agents, mid-day, in Sommerville, MA and an image of a large protest held for Ozurk where hundreds gathered in support of freeing the student (Offenhartz et al., 2025). The security footage omits a dramatic and fearful tone, making it a strong example of a conflict frame. This involves a disagreement between two or more people and innately represents division (Parrott et al., 2019). As for the protest image, in view there are signs specifically identifying Ozurk as the main attribution for this gathering and Palestine flags can be seen. This may omit negative feelings from audiences, according to Parrott et al., (2019) who references research from Matthew Wright and Jack Citrin (2011) that found individuals who saw visuals of protests inclusive of the U.S. flag were less upset about the protest. These visuals serve to deepen the reader’s understanding of the situation and public opinion, enhancing both emotional and factual impacts of the story.
Offenhartz et al. (2025) made the decision to not include specific information or statistics pulled from polls or surveys in their AP article. However, the inclusion of this data could be a benefit by displaying a generic frame that emphasizes the significance of Ozurk’s case in connection to the overarching trends currently seen today around immigration, while quantifying public opinion to lean towards frame setting (Parrott et al., 2019).
Partisanship Review and Frame Identification
While AP as a news source generally strives for non-partisanship, this specific topic around immigration enforcement can take on certain leanings. Especially if the journalist(s) involved have certain political convictions (Brüggemann, 2014). While it is difficult to know for sure exactly where each author stands, we can focus in on the language used to identify political leanings (Famulari, 2020).
This article appears to be involved in a few frames, including legal, human interest, and authority. To start, a legal frame is introduced by focusing on the legal aspects of Ozturk’s detention and the involvement of her lawyer, the description of covered ICE agents, and the court ruling she should not be removed from the state (Offenhartz et al., 2025). These emphases through legal frames align with the concept of how journalists define what is an issue in public debates (Brüggemann, 2014). Human interest comes into play by emphasizing Ozurk’s detention goes without explanation and providing the visual of the conflict that day (Offenhartz et al., 2025). These details elicit empathy and allows the reader to connect with Ozurk as an individual, which is also a part of the episodic frame category. Episodic frames are part of the overarching concept of generic frames, which allow for a broader definition of themes (Famulari, 2020). Lastly, the authority frame was identified by the consistent references to government agencies such as ICE and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The stress on the actions from the government frames this story around the power of these institutions, which can also be linked to political frames (Parrott et al., 2019).
In sum, the AP article on Rumeysa Ozturk’s detention demonstrates how journalistic framing, through language, source attribution, and imagery, can shape public perception of immigration enforcement. While AP is generally seen as a neutral news source, this story engages both frame sending and frame setting techniques. By highlighting legal processes, emotional elements, and authority figures, the article reflects how media can influence audience emotions and attitudes, aligning with findings from communication and media research.
References
AllSides. (2023, May). Survey rating media bias: Associated Press, IJR, Reuters, Time, TheBlaze. https://www.allsides.com/blind-survey/survey-rating-media-bias-associated-press-ijr-reuters-time-theblaze-may-2023
Brüggemann, M. (2014). Between Frame Setting and Frame Sending: How Journalists Contribute to News Frames. Communication Theory, 24(1), 61–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/comt.12027
Famulari, U. (2020). Framing the Trump Administration’s “Zero Tolerance” Policy: A Quantitative Content Analysis of News Stories and Visuals in US News Websites. Journalism Studies, 21(16), 2267–2284. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2020.1832141
Offenhartz, J., McCormack, K., & Casey, M. (2025, March 26). Turkish student at Tufts University detained, video shows masked people handcuffing her. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/tufts-student-detained-massachusetts-immigration-6c3978da98e8d0f39ab311e092ffd892
Parrott, S., Hoewe, J., Fan, M., & Huffman, K. (2019). Portrayals of Immigrants and Refugees in U.S. News Media: Visual Framing and its Effect on Emotions and Attitudes. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 64(4), 681–698.
Wright, M., & Citrin, J. (2011). Saved by the stars and stripes? Images of protest, salience of threat, and immigration attitudes. American Politics Research, 39(2), 323–343. doi:10.1177/1532673X10388140